


No Solution

by rlb190



Series: George O'Malley is not dead [2]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Fluff, George O'Malley - Freeform, George O'Malley is not dead, Levi Schmitt - Freeform, Levi has issues, Medical Jargon, Self Confidence Issues, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, levi is good surgeon okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 00:00:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16252478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rlb190/pseuds/rlb190
Summary: "Do you think you're incompetent?"George O’Malley is a puzzle. He was a puzzle that Levi couldn’t quite figure out, and it was driving him nuts.





	No Solution

**Author's Note:**

> A little drabble involving Levi and George. I feel like they're two sides of the same coin, you know? Keep an eye out for more in this series.

         When Levi Schmitt walked into the break room and saw Dr. O’Malley sitting there, alone, nose buried in a file, he knew that something was wrong.

  
  


          Dr. O’Malley, George, had always been sort of a mystery to Levi. Subtracting the fact that the man had massive amounts of scars all over his face or the fact he was missing his legs, he was still a complete and utter mystery.

  
  


       Ever since Levi had been small, he had been obsessed with figuring things out. Anything he could get his hands on, puzzles, rubix cubes, crosswords, all of it, intrigued him. He had some sort of innate curiosity that could only be quelled by figuring things out. As he got older, that interest transferred from things to people and the human body. He would spend hours in med school just reading old case files, trying to figure things out. Levi liked to think he was decent enough at it. After all, he had been in the top 10% in his medical school thanks greatly in part to his curiosity.

  
  


    That’s why George O’Malley was such a puzzle. He was a puzzle that Levi couldn’t quite figure out, and it was driving him nuts. And Levi had already had a bad shift last night. He had dropped his clamps in a patient, earning him lots of annoyed looks from the other surgeons in the operating room. He really didn’t need anything else bothering him. All he wanted to do was go take a shower and go home.

  
  


   So, when Levi walked in and saw George, his first thought was to turn on heels and get the heck out of there. The other man was smart, for sure. Not to say that Levi didn’t like him. He did. But he was a mystery, and all Levi wanted to do was figure him out. But he couldn’t.

  
  
  


     Before he could make his great escape, George looked up from his file with those tired eyes and smiled gently.

  
  


“Levi. Good morning.”

 

         Levi fought the urge to cringe, feeling guilty about his fleeing thoughts.

  
  


“Good morning, Dr. O’Malley. Long night?”

  
  


   George gave a dry laugh and shook his head.

  
  


“You have no idea.”

  
  


       It was quiet for a moment, the silence biting.

  
  


“What are you, uh, working on?”

 

 

             George looked down at his file, eyebrows raised in exclamation.

  
  


          “Pregnant woman. Came in this morning complaining of a crazy headache after a fire in her apartment building. She had no other complaints other than that, not to mention she was irritable. She said she lives over a boiler room and the racket was keeping her up. But there’s just… something. I don’t know.”

  
  


Levi frowned at this, brows furrowing.

  
  


              “I would love to help. But I’m not the best qualified. Ask anyone.”

  
  


         George looked up at Levi, his face a little more serious than it had been before. A weariness that he always seem to hold faded.

 

“What do you mean?”

  
  


          “It’s- nothing. I mean, I was just....”

 

Levi trailed off under George’s harsh, attentive stare. It was stern, but not unkind. Levi sighed. What the hell.

  
  


        “I just, I mess up a lot. You know? Everyone thinks I’m incompetent. They all call me “glasses” because of that one time. I’m sure you’ve heard what happened from Dr. Grey.”

 

George didn’t waver in his look.

 

 

“Do you think that you’re incompetent?”

  
  


Levi looked down.

 

 

“It doesn’t matter what I think.”

  
  


          George shook his head. “Yes. It does, Levi. It’s what you think of yourself that guides you in your actions. If you think you’re a terrible doctor, then you’ll start to act like one .”

  
  


Levi didn’t say anything to that. He just kept looking down at his shoes.

  
  


        George sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

 

 

“Listen, Levi. When I was an intern, you know what they called me? 007.”

 

 

        Levi looked up, brows furrowed once more. “Like, James Bond?”

 

 

George gave a grim smile. “Yeah. License to kill. I had been asked to assist in an appendectomy and almost killed the patient.”

 

 

“You? Really?”

 

 

        George laughed. It wasn’t dry this time. It was a deep chuckle. It was a laugh that Levi had never heard come from him before.

 

 

“Yeah. I was a mess. Everyone thought so, too. But I kept going. I kept learning, I kept working. Then Karev and I did surgery in an elevator, and I rocked it.”

 

 

      George smiled, recalling the memories, crow line’s clear in the corner of his eyes. Levi found himself smiling, too.

 

 

“Listen, Levi. Don’t let anyone get to you. What matters is what you think of yourself. That’s all that’s important. Well, that and treating people.”

 

 

          Levi considered this for a brief moment before finally nodding.

 

 

“Right. I think I get it. Thanks, Dr. O’Malley.”

 

 

         George nodded. “Anytime.”

 

     With that, Levi left the room. Maybe he hadn’t figured out the puzzle that was George O’Malley, but he had managed to solve a puzzle. He had managed to solve a little bit of  himself.

 

 

Cool.

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off my experience during my brief stint as a trauma intern. I messed up so freaking bad- I almost killed someone. not only did it scare the living shit out of me, but it also made me the '007' in my intern group. Though they called me "Jason", (from Friday the 13th). My resident found me crying in a supply closet and helped me get back on the horse. I did up leaving trauma for the M.E's office, but I didn't leave medicine entirely. I've always thought George would be a good mentor, especially to Levi.
> 
> let me just say, I LOVE Levi. He's just so much character development wrapped in one package. 
> 
> P.S- I totally ship him and Nico. even though they've only had like 30 seconds of screen time together. I will go down with this ship. 
> 
> maybe I'll write a little something here for the two of them.... maybe...
> 
> Should I?


End file.
